UPDATED: Cybersecurity Firm OnDefend Elevating Presence on the National Stage

OnDefend is an innovative Jacksonville, FL based company in the world of cybersecurity. Boasting a national client base, OnDefend is working with major national corporations to strengthen their ‘cybersecurity posture’ thereby helping them avoid successful cyber-attacks.

OnDefend’s regional success has positioned them as the emerging leader in cybersecurity. A recent public appearance at the Tech Coast Conference held in Northeast Florida pitted Ben Finke, OnDefend Co-founder and Director of Information Security Operations and Management against Jeff Foltz, Chief Information Security Officer with Fidelity National Financial. Finke and Foltz went head-to-head on stage exposing high profile security breaches in our recent history; breaking down the likes of the WannaCry breach, the Target Thanksgiving weekend break-in, and hacks involving LinkedIN and GMail in a live cyberattack simulation.

“We just signed five global penetration test specialists to help us continue providing cutting edge cybersecurity testing that helps our national clients stay ahead of the threat actors (bad guys),” Finke notes, explaining the firm is broadening its national reach daily to keep up with the rising demand for their unique and effective testing protocols.

US cyber-attacks are costing businesses $400 to $500 billion a year, quickly becoming a top reason executive jobs are lost. “In 2016 cybercrime cost the global economy over $450 billion,” said Steve Langan, chief executive at Hiscox Insurance. And according to Steven Morgan, Editor and Chief of Cybersecurity Ventures “Cybersecurity Venturespredicts global annual cybercrime costs will grow from $3 trillion in 2015 to $6 trillion annually by 2021, [including but not limited to] damage and destruction of data, stolen money, lost productivity, theft of intellectual property, theft of personal and financial data, embezzlement and fraud.”

With this impact to businesses, the national demand for preventative cybersecurity services is on the rise and OnDefend has proven itself to be up to the challenge.

“Our team of ‘ethical hackers’ just wrapped up the testing phase for two national restaurant chains and one of the largest shipping companies in the world. Companies are getting proactive about improving their cybersecurity posture and that’s what we like to see. Our goal is not only to help our clients strengthen their cyber posture, but also help them continually move up the overall security maturity curve,” says Chris Freedman, OnDefend Co-Founder and Director of Business Development and Operations.

OnDefend provided its cybersecurity testing services to over 60 national health care institutions, three national mortgage enterprises, one national financial institution as well as over 25 mid-market clients in 2016 alone.